Sacred & Profane began with Songs of Ariel (1949-50), which set five of Ariel's songs and speeches from Shakespeare's The Tempest. The pieces are playful and, in some ways, madrigal-esque, and the chorus certainly looked as though it enjoyed the work and the setting. The group sang with good diction throughout; high points for drama came in moments such as "cock-a-diddle-dow," sung by three single voices at the end of the first song; "ding-dong bell," at the end of the second; and "merrily shall I live now," at the end of the fifth. Yet overall, the spirit of Shakespeare's Ariel was overshadowed by the complexity of Martin's musical setting and the demands it made on the performers. The audience was all too aware of this being difficult music, whereas, ideally, one would have wanted it to appear effortless.

In Martin's Messe (1921-26), the choir displayed many of the same strengths and weaknesses. The progression of the text was easy to follow, the choir sang the rhythmic passages with intensity and clarity, and the slow, sustained passages displayed beautiful blend and tight tuning. The second Kyrie, the "Dominus Deus Agnus Dei" of the Gloria, and the opening sections of the Agnus Dei were lush and luxuriant, showing the choir at its best. The abrupt shifts in style and texture at the "Crucifixus" and "Et resurrexit" were also particularly well-executed and effective.

The main problem was in the lack of larger forces. With only 23 voices, the singers were three (or two) to a part for the double-choir work, making each voice's confidence and security critical. Blend within sections, strength of entrances and of loud dynamics, the softness yet intensity of the pianos, and the accuracy of pitch all become much greater obstacles with only three voices on each line. Sacred & Profane gamely took these on, but with mixed success.

Though small moments of faulty intonation or unblended sections didn't materially hinder the aural impact of the music, they did serve to distract from the intensely personal conviction that underlies Martin's Mass and that is equally as important as any of its actual notes. The passion and conviction for this music were conveyed emphatically, however, by conductor Seeman, who showed an awareness for nearly every detail in the score, shaping lines with fluidity and achieving what many choral conductors envy: extensive eye contact with her choir.

Martin's Passacaille pour orgue stood out strikingly from the two choral works. Before performing the piece, organist Dimmock spoke to the audience, explaining the similarities and dissimilarities between Martin's writing and that of Bach and of Schoenberg, and demonstrating the passacaglia line and its primary variation. He also gave some context and a caveat for the work: It was written in 1944, when Europeans were facing "the end of civilization as they knew it." The piece, Dimmock said, is important to play and to hear, to remind us of a consequential time in history — not to be approached from a vantage point of mere enjoyment. His moving performance proved indeed that power can transcend beauty.